Obtaining The World: At All Cost!
by Osyra
Summary: Follows our Protagonist's efforts in his attempt to obtain the ultimate persona through fusion: Izanagi-no-Okami! Short story that offers a closer look at the trials and tribulations Yu Narukami must endure to obtain every persona necessary for the Dodecagonal World Fusion; from save file corruption to fusion accidents, he'll do whatever it takes for the Ultimate Accomplishment!
1. Chapter 1

**Chapter One: The Power within is a result of your relationships**

There was a slight chill in the air as a tall young man neared the shopping district. The streets were mostly empty as he had expected, but as he looked around his gaze soon fixated on a short figure standing near the bookstore. Ah. Perfect. Just the person he needed to see.

Naoto Shirogane, a close friend, was situated in her usual spot at this time of night, gazing at the assorted books lined up in the shop's windows. Clad in a sharp blue winter coat and her signature hat, she seemed to have been taking a walk before heading home. Or, now that he noticed the bags in her hand, she must have just ordered takeout from Aiya. Come to think of it, winter would be here soon, so maybe he should start wearing warmer clothes as well…

Naoto glanced behind her at the sound of advancing footsteps and noticed a familiar head of silver hair. Ah, of course. Senpai was usually seen walking around at this time after dark. He was probably on his way to the shrine, since he'd been frequenting that place with a near obsessiveness for some unknown reason. She tipped her hat to him in greeting as he approached, and struck up conversation.

"Good evening, Yu-senpai. I had a feeling you would come around here. I was on an errand and decided to check for any new arrivals at the bookstore." She looked back at the shop's closed doors. "It seems I've arrived too late, however."

The young detective didn't seem to be doing much at the moment. This was an ideal opportunity to spend some time with her. Yu brought a hand up to his chin momentarily, and Naoto looked up at him as his gaze became contemplative. "What do you say, Senpai. Did you want to set aside some time for idle conversation?"

"After this could be Rank… eight," Yu quietly mumbled as he counted on his fingertips.

"Ahh… what was that, Senpai?" Naoto gave him a curious look.

"Nothing. Yes, let's talk for a bit."

* * *

After discussing various topics ranging from school studies to Teddie's possible genetic structure, they both decided to head home as it was getting late. Just as Naoto bid him good night, Yu remembered something and turned back around as they parted. "One more thing…" he fished around in his pocket before handing her some folded papers. "The notes that Kanji borrowed from you. He was afraid to approach you to return them, so he sent them through me."

"Oh," she said as she received the papers, "Thank you for returning them. But… why would he be too afraid to do this himself?"

A beat passed before Narukami replied. "What?"

"Kanji-kun. You said that he was wary of me. I see no reason for him to be." The puzzled girl frowned.

"Ah. I meant to say that he forgot to return them," Yu replied with an unreadable expression. They both stared at each other in silence before Naoto decided to just let it go.

"Alright then. In any case, I shall see you at school tomorrow. Are you headed straight home?"

Yu nodded. "Right after I drop by Rise-san's house to give her a copy of the notes you lent to Kanji." Naoto shook her head as her senpai turned away. _Of course they would both be using my notes_, she thought. _But wait. Tonight—_

"Ah, S-Senpai wait," she told him. "I recall Kujikawa-san saying that she would be out for the rest of the evening. You won't find her at her home tonight."

The silver-haired boy tilted his head to the side. "I see. So she's staying over at your estate again for the night? I can give the notes to you then instead."

The short girl's face immediately became ashen. "I… What? H-how did you…" She quickly composed herself and tugged her cap down farther over her face. "Ahh, yes. That is… thank you. I will be sure that she gets them." Yu gazed at Naoto blankly as she collected the papers, attempting to hide the deep blush coloring her cheeks. "Here. A token of my thanks for your efforts to return my belongings." She quickly handed him a bar of chocolate. After seeing this other side of Naoto, Yu felt that their friendship could become closer soon…

"_Yesss_…" he suddenly exclaimed as he stared at Naoto with the sternest expression possible.

"H-Huh? Yes what? What is it?" Naoto was becoming more uncomfortable by the second.

"Nothing. Our relationship is now closer, so I will be seeing you tomorrow." And with that he turned and walked away, leaving behind him an increasingly disturbed Detective Prince.

* * *

At the beginning of lunch period the next day, Yu made his way to the school's first floor, as he'd made plans to have lunch with Yosuke and had stored his homemade bento in his shoe locker. After retrieving his lunch, he noticed a package situated to the side, and retrieved that as well. Upon further inspection, he realized that it was unlike any of the other gifts he'd received in his locker before. It was a plain, white-wrapped box, small in size with no message or any type of writing on its exterior. Naoto approached Yu just as he began to shake the box in his hand.

"Senpai," she began, "I've come across another lead regarding the mysterious letter case that—" she paused once she saw what he was doing. "Oh. What do you have there? A gift from another admirer?" She peered closely at it. "Hmm, it doesn't seem to be addressed by anyone. Quite strange."

"I think it could be a bomb," he replied, shaking the thing even harder to get a feel for its contents.

"A what?! Yu-senpai, you shouldn't joke about such things." Naoto grabbed ahold of his arm to stop him from disturbing the box's contents any further. Her eyes narrowed as she quickly glanced down both sides of the hallway. "I suppose I can have it submitted to the lab for examination, if you feel it is truly that serious." She turned back to Yu. "However, I highly doubt that—" She looked down at his hands to realize that he'd already completely unwrapped and opened the box. One of Naoto's eyes twitched slightly in irritation. She sighed as she released his arm.

"So it's just a Home Ec project…" the taller boy said as he read the note attached to the box's interior. The type of food that this person was intending to cook was indiscernible, however. It seemed to resemble a solid ball of overcooked meat.

"I see. The contents were harmless then. In any case, I would like to follow up on this investigation. I have received another letter from our unnamed 'informant'. Would you mind meeting with me after school?"

Yu nodded his head in response. "Sure."

"You have my gratitude." The Detective Prince glanced back at the box in Yu's hand as she departed. "Umm… are you sure that you don't want that submitted to some type of lab? That… _object _doesn't seem to be edible at all."

"But I haven't figured out what it is yet."

Naoto _tsked _slightly. "That is precisely why…" She adjusted her hat. "Never mind. I will see you later today, Senpai." Yu watched her go before he headed up to the roof, where Yosuke was undoubtedly waiting.

* * *

"Uhh, ok. Dude. Just what the hell _is_ that?" Whatever it was that Narukami had brought with him to lunch was troubling Yosuke to no end.

The silver-haired boy continued to eat his lunch. "What do you mean?"

"You know what the hell I mean! This… thing! What is this?" Yosuke pointed to the unidentifiable object that Yu had decided to place directly between them. Before anything else, Narukami had removed the object from the box it was in, placed it right next to Yosuke, and then sat down to eat without saying a single word. There was no way Yosuke could concentrate on eating with something like that taking up space next to him. "Why'd you even put it there? I can't keep eating until I have an explanation!"

"How's the bento?"

"O-Oh," Yosuke looked at the food in his lap. "Well, it's really good actually, as expected. I mean bro, you sure know how to— WAIT!" Yosuke set the bento aside. "You're not answering any of my questions! Dude, what. Is. That."

"It was a gift," Yu replied calmly.

"A gift from who?"

"I don't know."

Yosuke paused a moment and rubbed his temple. "Okay well, what are you even carrying it around like that for?"

"I'm going to eat it."

"You're WHAT?" Yosuke bolted upwards and took a cautious stance. "But it's not even food, is it?" He peered at it from a safe distance. "I mean it looks like… _animal waste_, man. Doesn't smell too good, either." Yosuke crossed his arms. "Plus, you set it directly onto a surface that people sit on without thinking to at least put it in a _napkin_ or something…"

"I didn't say I was going to eat _all _of it." Yu figured that since someone put in an effort to make this for him, he might as well _taste _it.

A bead of sweat rolled from Yosuke's face. "And that's supposed to reassure me…? Look, I just wouldn't. I mean geeze, it looks like something the girls would cook up." He shuddered at the mere mention of the accursed Mystery Food X.

Yu suddenly stood up and poked the object with his chopsticks.

"W-What the—?!" Yosuke promptly stepped backwards and pulled Narukami in front of him. "T-That thing just MOVED! _Tell _me I'm not going insane! I swear it just repositioned itself, man!"

Yu blinked. "It did…"

"How are you so calm about this?!" The brunette was at his wits end. "Bro… I can't even do this right now, dude. I gotta…" Yosuke quickly sidestepped the Thing, which had somehow made it to the ground already, and gathered his belongings. "I'm outta here. Just… you need to throw that thing the _hell_ away, man!" And with that, Hanamura stormed down the steps, probably to empty his bladder before heading back to class.

Yu stared after his friend for a bit before stooping down to pick the object up and place it back in its box. He stuffed the box inside his uniform jacket and gathered his things. Lunch would soon be over, so he decided to return to class. Yu felt that these events had somehow brought him closer to Yosuke…


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter Two: Fortune! Rank eight: Social Link _Go!_**

Immediately after school, Yu headed to Tatsuhime Shrine to meet up with Naoto. He usually visited the shrine once a day after school, so this wasn't altering his schedule much, anyway. "Hmmm," he mused. He might as well catch a few more bugs while they were there as well…

"Ah, Senpai, you've arrived." The young prodigy in question stood near the shrine's entrance. She looked over past the gates. "I've been trailing a suspicious figure who may very well be our thief. He's just entered the shrine, as I anticipated. We may be able to catch him in the act."

Yu nodded firmly. "I'll ready the net."

"Affirmative. Then I shall… wait, excuse me? What net?" Naoto furrowed her brows in confusion. She watched as Narukami brandished a long butterfly net. From where, she could hardly imagine. "Ahh… I'm sure that we won't be needing that for this particular task, Yu-senpai…"

Narukami's grip only tightened around the net's handle as he looked on with a rather serious expression. The air was now tenser for some reason.

"P-Perhaps we should go in now." Naoto honestly had no idea what it was that possessed her senpai to do such peculiar things.

"Yes," was all she got for a reply. Once they entered, Yu headed straight for a group of trees to the west of the gate and quickly crouched down in the shade.

"…Senpai, what on earth are you doing? Should we not be searching for—?"

"The amount of shade in this spot causes the ground to retain moisture…"

"W-What?"

He slowly raised the net into the air and waited. "Chisato-san, bring me luck."

"Who? Senpai, we really do not have time for this. If we don't make haste we could lose the trail."

Narukami said nothing, his form unmoving as he waited for the chance to strike. Just one! One was all he needed…

Naoto was at a total loss. They would be easily noticed if he did not stop this foolishness. She really hoped that no one was watching—

"There!" Yu swiftly brought the net onto the ground. Naoto peered over his shoulder as he scooped up several captured bugs. He picked a particular one out from the others and held it up to the air. "Naoto…" he suddenly exclaimed with his back turned to her.

"Y-Yes?"

"Do you see this?" He flipped around and placed the bug in her face.

"An insect," she noted. "What of it?" She really had no idea where this was going.

"This…" he flipped it over in his hand, "is a Genji Beetle. Look at it." Naoto did as he asked and watched as the bug desperately squirmed around on its back. "The timing was perfect. I've finally caught one." His face reddened with what she assumed must have been pride. She was losing her patience however, and wanted to get on with her assignment.

"Congratulations, Senpai. Now may we please return to the task at hand? I am surprised we haven't been discovered."

"Yes. Let us catch this assassin thief," Yu replied with a straight face as he swung the net over his shoulder. Naoto huffed slightly as she pulled her hat farther down over her face.

* * *

After a rather lively encounter with the mystery man from the shrine, Yu walked toward the floodplains along with an agitated Detective Prince.

"Your compulsive actions were highly unnecessary, Yu-senpai. What if the knife he had been holding had turned out to be real instead of some cheap toy?"

"But I caught him."

Naoto was having a hard time keeping herself composed. "You _attacked _the man and placed a butterfly net over his head."

"He was going to stab you."

"That knife was a _toy, _Senpai! How many times must I say it?"

"You should be more careful next time."

"…"

Yu gazed forlornly over at his empty net. Most of his bugs had been lost in the process. However…

He brought out a box from within his jacket and opened it to check on its contents. Naoto glanced over and recognized the container. "Is that…?"

"At least the Genji Beetle is safe," Yu exclaimed as he probed the container's interior with his fingertips.

"You've placed it in that box with the Unidentified Object from earlier today?"

The silver-haired boy nodded as he put the box away. "Genji should stay warm and cozy in there until I need it."

Naoto sighed and decided not to question what use Narukami would have with the probably-terrified bug. "Regardless," she stated as she removed her cap to run a hand through her short-blue hair. "That man's appearance raised some warning bells…" She placed her hat back in its original position. "There is something that I must look into, Senpai."

Yu could feel that something had changed due to the day's events. He felt that he understood Naoto much better than he did before…

"This case has certainly taken an unexpected turn today," Naoto declared with another sigh.

Yu clutched one of his fists tightly and closed his eyes. "_Rank_…"

"Once I have obtained another lead, I will notify you so that—"

"…_Up_."

After an extended silence, the young detective decided that there wasn't much more of this that she could take. "I-I'm sorry?"

Yu stared unblinkingly into the shorter girl's eyes for several seconds before asking, "How was your sleepover with Rise?"

"Wha… sleepover? I…" Naoto's face flushed a bright red, as the question had caught her completely off guard. "I-I wouldn't exactly call it… ahh, well it was more of a…" She fumbled with her collar as Yu nodded.

"So it was good then," he said emotionlessly.

"Ah, y-yes it was very g—" she averted her gaze. "Senpai, I have to go now. Something's just come to my attention so…" Naoto tried her best not to look too flustered. "I will take my leave. Good day." She tipped her hat to him and hurriedly retreated in the opposite direction. Narukami watched her go until she rounded a corner. He then quickly pulled a small notebook and pencil from a back pocket and flipped through it until he came across the particular page concerning the Fortune Arcana. He erased the bold number seven situated at the top and swiftly replaced it with an eight. After nodding his head in satisfaction, Yu pocketed the items and headed home, ignoring the small box that had started to beat against his chest.

* * *

The sound of a door opening before quickly sliding shut could be heard from her spot in the family room.

"Oh!" Nanako turned her head towards the entrance. "Welcome home, big bro!"

Narukami nodded his head in greeting as he stiffly strode over to the kitchen. Nanako noticed him jump slightly before he removed something from his jacket and stuffed it into the fridge. She tilted her head to the side in curiosity.

"Did you bring something from Junes?" Her countenance brightened tremendously.

Yu, either choosing to ignore the question or simply not hearing it asked, "How was school today?"

Nanako broke into a wide smile as she began to tell him of her day. Narukami listened intently as she told him what she'd learned that day and how much fun she had. Then her words were interrupted with a loud thud that could be heard from the kitchen. They both glanced back at the fridge, where the sound had obviously come from.

"What was that?" Nanako asked, looking over at her big bro, who silently stared at the fridge for a few seconds before answering, "Probably nothing. Or maybe something just fell." He looked back to Nanako, who had a concerned expression on her face as she stood.

"Maybe it made a mess." She began walking towards the kitchen. "I should probably clean it."

Yu opened his mouth to protest, but his words were drowned out by a catchy tune that loudly drifted over from the television.

**_At Junes, every day is customer appreciation day!_**

Nanako stopped in her tracks, turning from the kitchen to immediately sit in front of the TV as she listened to the commercial attentively. She grinned happily as she began to sing along:

"Every day's great~

at your Junes!"

She cheerfully swayed from side to side as she sang to herself, apparently forgetting about the thud and everything else around her.

Narukami blinked as he watched his younger cousin, both amazed and grateful for Junes' hypnotic powers. He didn't feel he'd become much closer to Nanako just yet, but he did enjoy spending this evening with her…

* * *

Hours later, Detective Ryotaro Dojima silently entered the house, trying his best not to disturb the other occupants' sleep. He quietly turned on the kitchen light and laid his jacket over one of the dining chairs, then nearly jumped out of his skin when he heard a loud thumping noise. He quickly turned around and faced the fridge.

"The hell…?"


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter Three: Some things don't make sense**

Yu Narukami's eyes peered open as he slowly drifted out of sleep and back into consciousness. Warm sunlight flowed from his bedroom window, and he could hear sounds coming from the kitchen. He sat up and stretched, taking in the view from outside. He remembered closing the shades last night, so someone must have opened them while he was still asleep…

"Yuuu~ honey," he heard a voice lilt from downstairs, "You should get ready, otherwise you won't have time to eat before school!"

Yu paused all movement and turned towards the door. That voice he'd just heard sounded very feminine. It was also strangely familiar, though it couldn't be Nanako; it sounded much too… motherly. He decided to get dressed and see what was going on.

On his way downstairs he bumped into Teddie, who happened to be wearing a Yaso uniform… and was for some reason in his house. "Ted…?" Narukami was only slightly confused.

The blonde slapped him on the shoulder as he grinned widely. "Mornin' Big Bro!" he exclaimed, his eyes shining brightly. Yu stared at the shorter kid in bewilderment.

"Where did you get that uniform?"

Teddie gave him a puzzled look. "We've both had our uniforms since school started, Big Bro." He then lifted a hand to Yu's forehead. "You feeling ok? You're probably still just sleepy." He then offered another huge smile. "Don't worry, Mom's making something downstairs, and it smells _bear_-y nice! It should make you feel better!" He grabbed Yu by the arm to lead him to the kitchen.

"'Mom'?"

Once they reached the bottom of the stairs, Yu immediately noticed a tall figure hovering over the sink. Clad in a white dress and pink apron, with a pearl necklace and matching earrings, they turned so that Yu could see their fashionably curled hair and red lipstick. "Good morning boys. Hope you've got all your things ready for school."

"Kanji?"

"Mommyyy!" Teddie exclaimed as he launched himself into Kanji's waiting arms. "The food smells amayy-zing, Mom!" He then kissed his "mother" on the cheek.

Yu stood paralyzed, unable to react to this situation at all.

"Thank you, sweety. Now eat up before it cools."

Teddie enthusiastically hopped into his seat at the table, and began scarfing his food as he greeted someone in the chair next to his. "Mornin' Daddy!"

"Quit talkin' with your mouth full, boy."

Narukami squinted over at the table. "Yosuke?"

Hanamura peered at Yu over his newspaper. "Didn't you hear your mother? Come siddown partner, before your food gets cold."

"What's going-"

"Doesn't matter now," Kanji interrupted. "You'll both be late if you don't leave right now. Here," He placed homemade packed lunches into both of their bags, then placed Yu's breakfast in a napkin before handing it to him. "You'll just have to eat it on the way."

"Well, I'm off," Yosuke announced as he grabbed his keys. "Have a good day, everyone." He gave Kanji a kiss on the cheek on his way out.

Narukami began to sweat.

"Be back safe!" Teddie shouted as Hanamura walked out the door. Kanji looked back at them.

"Okay kids, you should be heading out too."

"Alrighty!" Teddie said, hugging his mommy once more before heading to the door.

"You too, mister," Kanji addressed to Yu. "Give mommy a kiss before you leave."

"Ahh…" Yu clutched his bag tightly.

"Hmm?" He watched as Yu backed up slowly. "What's wrong dear? You've been acting strange all morning."

"I need to wake up."

"Now now, honey," Kanji admonished. "There's no time for these shenanigans; you'll be late. Now give your mommy a kiss." Suddenly Yu was unable to move, and he watched in horror as Kanji's puckered lips were mere inches away from his face.

"Mmmmwwaaa~!"

Narukami bolted upright on his futon. He looked around bewilderedly, clutching his chest; then looked over to his window and could see light peeking through the closed shades. He let out a sigh of relief, and nearly jumped into the ceiling when he heard his phone ringing. He grabbed it and opened it shakily.

"Hello?" he answered hoarsely, heart attack having started all over again.

"Narukami?" he heard Chie greet over the phone. "Hey! You probably just woke up, so I'll make this quick. Today's our day off, so I figured we should all head into the TV world."

Yu said nothing, still breathing heavily.

"Just for training though!" she verified. "The killer's still at large, y'know. So we should all be on our guard. We can't give that creep any leeway, right? So whadda you say?"

Gaining control of his breathing, Yu managed a reply. "Yeah. Let's all meet up in an hour."

"Awesome!" Chie exclaimed over the phone. "I'll round up the others. See ya soon!"

Yu hung up and sat in the room in silence. After a while he looked over at his closet, deciding it was best to get dressed and head to the team's meeting place. Once he'd donned his desired clothing, he retrieved his weapon and some money from the back of the closet, and re-locked it before exiting his room.

Though he never wished to have a nightmare like the one he just experienced _ever_ again, he certainly could feel that he'd become closer to each of the guys…

* * *

In the electronics section at Junes, the Investigation Team had gathered around their staple television set, preparing to enter. The amount of shoppers in the area was more than usual however, so it was decided that the best course of action would be to spread out a bit until the traffic slowed.

Narukami remained in the electronics section with Chie and Yukiko, keeping a close eye on the TV sets. Teddie had wandered away eagerly, prompting Yosuke to run after and chaperone him. And Naoto was abruptly hauled off by Rise into another section of the store, with Kanji nervously following behind.

As Yu stood behind another isle with the girls, staking out the televisions, Chie began to reflect on their decision to stay in the store; "You guys ever think of how… suspicious it could look with all of us coming here all the time?"

Yu glanced at her before returning his gaze to their TV. "Not at all."

"Well…" Yukiko reasoned, "We're not always here _that _often, Chie. I'm sure it's not too noticeable."

"Are you kidding? We're here like, twice a week on average. In the same section."

"Oh… Well when you put it that way…" Yukiko looked over at Yu to second Chie's observation, but suddenly noticed something odd. "Narukami-kun, are those… binoculars?"

The silver-haired boy didn't move an inch from watching the TV sets. "No."

Both girls watched him in confusion until he looked back at them. "Field glasses," he explained.

"Uh… isn't that… the same thing?" Chie scratched her head.

Yu shook his head in answer, pulling another pair from his jacket and holding them up. "These are binoculars."

Chie squinted at both instruments. "Why do you even have those?"

Yukiko reached past Chie to remove the field glasses from Yu's hand and looked into them herself. After a few seconds she exclaimed, "Oh Chie, he's right! Much more advanced. And clearer." She pushed them into her friend's hands. "Here, look."

"You have _got _to be kidding me…" Chie accepted the instrument and put it over her eyes, then waited a few seconds.

"…Well?" Yukiko queried.

"I feel stupid."

"Snrk…"

"Don't you even dare!" Chie thrust the glasses back into Yukiko's hands as her friend tried her best to keep her giggles discreet.

Yu blinked at the girls' antics and returned to observing the television sets. Yukiko joined in the stakeout with the pair that he'd given to her, and they all stood in silence and observed.

After about thirty minutes, not much progress had been made, and Chie was becoming more and more aware of the stares they were receiving from onlookers. "This crowd isn't thinning out at all, you guys. Maybe we should head somewhere else. Or at least go to a different section."

Her friends continued to observe the TV section with their ocular instruments however; extremely determined in their task. "We can't just abandon our post, Chie." Yukiko looked over at her. "Let's stick it out a little longer."

"She's right," seconded Narukami. "We have to stay on guard."

Chie looked between her two friends. "You guys act like you're expecting an attack or something…"

"Possibly," Yu said mysteriously.

"Ugh," Chie huffed exasperatedly. "People are watching us guys." She noticed a sales attendant walking their way. "Uh-oh."

The man approached them cautiously. "Is there ah… anything I can help you kids with?" He glanced suspiciously at each of them. Chie quickly reached over and lowered their binoculars. "No thanks! We're just browsing. Right you guys?"

"That so? You've all been in here for quite a while… Are you sure?"

"Yes," Yu replied seriously. "We have a duty to fulfill."

"Uh… duty?"

"D-don't mind him!" Chie averted nervously. "He's just fooling around. We'll be out of here soon, promise."

"Oh ah… alright then. No rush." The attendant moved away rather quickly, seemingly startled by something. As if on cue Kanji walked up to them, wielding an enormous shield. Chie's eyes widened in utter unbelief. "Kanji… what the hell."

"What." the tall boy replied.

"What do you mean, 'what'? Don't tell me you were walking around with that thing." She pointed to the weapon and he followed her finger with his eyes.

"Oh. Well yeah," Kanji replied, rubbing the back of his neck. "Naoto and Rise went into some girl clothing section. It was kinda awkward so… I dunno. Went to the bathroom and polished my shield."

"You've been carrying that around the _store _with you?"

"Yeah I guess. So?" Kanji glanced around and noticed a group of girls staring their way, muttering loudly amongst themselves. "The hell_ you_ lookin' at?!" Kanji shouted, raising his shield. The girls quickly scattered away. "Tch," he scoffed.

"We'll be thrown out at this rate…" said Chie.

"Target's clear," Narukami suddenly stated.

"I'll call it in," Yukiko replied.

Kanji looked over at the other two. "Huh? Call what in?" Yukiko pulled out her cellphone and dialed a number, then said when it picked up, "The gate is clear. Repeat, return to the gate." She hung up and returned her field glasses to Yu.

"Uh… What're you guys even doing?" Kanji asked, looking between each of them. He made eye contact with Yu, who looked away and shuddered slightly for some reason. "What's goin' on?"

"We were keeping an eye on the TVs," Chie answered tiredly. "Guess it's safe to go in now." She looked over at Yukiko, who nodded matter-of-factly. The group soon gathered in front of the TV set, and everyone was nearly accounted for except for Teddie, who was conspicuously absent. There was something that Kanji took note of as they were all waiting.

"Huh. You guys ever wonder if we should just buy this thing?" He set his shield down and peered at the blank screen.

"What," Yosuke responded, "You mean the TV?"

"Yeah, the TV," Kanji iterated. "What'd you think I meant?"

"I dunno, geeze. Why would we need to buy it?"

"Well, we're runnin' up here all the damn time to go through the thing, so why not?"

Yosuke chuckled. "Yeah, I doubt any of us can even afford it dude…"

"You kiddin' me?" Kanji looked at him indignantly. "With the amount of money we pick up from all the fighting, we could buy a _bigger _one. Pool somethin' together."

"He… has a point," Naoto said, observing the price tag. "Together, we should be more than able to afford this."

"Where would we even put it though?" Yosuke argued. "Not like we can just dump it in someone's living room. No way our parents wouldn't be suspicious."

"Oh!" Rise exclaimed. "I vote Naoto's place! I'm sure her grandfather wouldn't mind. Plus, it would look _perfect _in her room."

"Wh-what?" said Naoto.

"Aw, but what about our Special Headquarters?" Chie protested.

"Yeah," seconded Yukiko. "I love meeting up here when we talk about the case."

Yosuke shrugged. "Yeah and honestly, you guys buy something pretty much every time we come here so… it's good for business." He tried to ignore the glare he received from Chie after saying that. "So uh… what do you think, Kanji?"

Kanji's face had already turned red as he gazed off at nothing in particular. "You mean we'd meet up… at N-Naoto's house?"

_"__Ugh,"_ Rise sighed. Naoto tried to get her attention. "Kujikawa-san—"

The idol gave her a look.

"Ah… Rise. The others are right. Maybe it's best that the television stays here."

"But what if someone else decides to buy it?" the girl argued. "What then?"

Yu crossed his arms. "She has a point. I'm sure Kanji's been wanting to see Naoto's room for a while now, anyway."

"HUH?!" Kanji shouted, horrified.

"My room is _not _an option, if I must make that clear," the young detective emphasized.

"Do we even have time for this right now?" said Yosuke, throwing his arms up. He looked around, as if remembering something. "And we need to find Teddie before he—"

"Beaarrr _Kick!_"

Something struck the group violently from behind, which immediately initiated a domino effect, sending them all head-first into the TV. And in a split second the kids had disappeared, with no one the wiser.


End file.
